Virginijus Sinkevičius is the EU’s youngest commissioner. He is charged with ensuring the environment, oceans and fisheries remain at the core of the European Green Deal. Ben Goldsmith, chair of the Conservative Environment Network, talks to him about Cop26, collective responsibility and blue carbon. Ben Goldsmith: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has pinned her leadership on the success of the European Green Deal, and at its centre is reaching net zero emissions by 2050. This is a collective target, rather than one that commits each individual member state to net zero. Commissioner, are you confident that all member states will pull their weight to deliver this ambition?   Virginyus Sinkevičius: The European Union is a diverse family of 27 member states, each with their own national specificities. This has to be reflected in how we implement the European Green Deal. The transition to a climate-neutral continent by 2050 must be achieved in an equitable and fair manner, taking into account that member states have diverse economies and energy dependencies.  Solidarity is hence a core component of our climate policies. Setting clear national targets while safeguarding flexibility is crucial so that every country can make its fair contribution without causing disproportionate adverse social impacts on its citizens. For instance, the regulation Governance of the Energy Union and Climate Action sets common rules for member states to follow when planning, reporting and monitoring, and it also establishes methods for tracking the implementation of climate legislation.  Under the Effort Sharing Regulation, member states have legally binding annual greenhouse gas emission targets over the next ten years for sectors not covered by the EU Emissions Trading System. The regulation recognises the different capacities of each country by setting individual country targets in accordance with GDP per capita. EU funds and budgetary measures are also helping EU countries to take the necessary action to achieve our collective climate ambitions. Some 30 per cent of the EU’s long-term budget from 2021 to 2027 will be spent on fighting climate change. Similarly, the temporary recovery instrument – the Recovery and Resilience Facility – is funding member states’ recovery plans. Within each of these plans, at least 37 per cent of expenditure must go towards climate investments and reforms. The Just Transition Fund is helping member states to alleviate the social and economic costs resulting from the climate transition, while the Modernisation Fund assists ten lower-income Member States to modernise their energy systems and move away from fossil fuel dependency. These measures are supporting all EU members states in their efforts to contribute to our overall ambition of reaching climate neutrality by 2050. BG: The UN Climate Conference in Glasgow in November will be the next pivotal moment for climate diplomacy since the signing of the Paris Agreement. What should Cop26 aim to achieve?  VS: The EU is a global leader in taking ambitious climate action, but we cannot solve this crisis alone. The world requires strong cooperation between countries, businesses and civil society to cope with the challenge of securing a safe climate for the future. This is at the heart of the upcoming Cop26. While the EU is reducing its greenhouse gas emissions, which currently account for around 7.5 per cent of the global total, overall global emissions are still rising.  I want to stress that we very much welcome the United States’ return to the Paris Agreement and the many pledges from governments around the world on emissions reductions and climate neutrality. However, we are in a critical decade requiring immediate and sustained action by everyone. Emissions must be at least halved by 2030 if we are to have any chance of achieving the Paris agreement’s goal of limiting the global temperature to no more than 1.5C. This is why it is vital that countries come to the Cop26 with more ambitious emissions reductions targets and climate ambitions.  It is also pivotal that Cop26 catalyses stronger climate finance commitments from high-income countries to support the green transition in low-income countries and to enhance the adaptation capacities of countries already facing the worst impacts of climate change. We are currently working closely with countries around the world to help support their ambitious pledges for climate adaptation and mitigation. So in Glasgow, we really need global solidarity and ambitious leadership to ensure an inclusive, bold, low-emission and climate-resilient global recovery from the Covid pandemic. The clock is ticking and a return to business as usual is not an option. BG: How can we maximise nature-based solutions, particularly “blue carbon” from mangroves, seagrass meadows and kelp forests, to help tackle climate change and biodiversity loss? And will the potential of blue carbon be raised at this year’s UN biod...